Season 2 Storm Warnings
by danAlwyn
Summary: Prelude to Acts of War. Time has passed, and new evil threatens the world, and worlds beyond. Will the forces of Light prevail? Prologue for a longer work. First posted fic, so please review!
1. Dark Horizon

Okay Kevin, I said that I would get season 2

Disclaimer:I don't own Digimon, or any of its associated products.Heck, I don't even own the computer I'm writing this on.If I did own this show, you bet I would have a more comfortable chair.

Cast of Characters:

Author's Note:I suppose that I should explain what this is.It is a very long episode based epic I wrote for the benefit of my brother.Both of us are interested in the show.However, it is, most of all, long.I tried to capture the feel of the show, but that means writing things long, and you know how that goes (long).I'm sorry for that, but if you don't have much patience, I wouldn't suggest you read it.It is my first fanfic, so you can be as harsh as you like, but please review.I hope I can write something better some day.

It has been about 1 and ½ years since the defeat of MaloMyotismon, which means the kids are older, calmer, and rested up, ready for their next adventure.Mimi has moved back to Japan, and Ken has transferred to Odaiba to be near his friends (after going through a number of depressions, which they helped fight together).The unification of the Digital World with the Real World has created some difficulties, but for the most part, it has been a slow transformation.So far not much has been effected.

COMPUTER TERMINAL: STATUS ACTIVE.

Please enter user identity and password for access:

Identity:Gennai

Password:*********

Greetings Gennai.Computer access to Citadel main net granted.Data acquisition online.

What do you need?

Recall Files DD1.1, DD1.2 

Security Warning:Access level 2 required to view these files.Please enter access codes.

Code input confirmed.

Beginning retinal scan and crest verification.

Security check complete, identity and access confirmed.File as followed.

Personnel File DD1.1

Digidestined Team Alpha

Tai -Taichi Kamiya-Age 16-Courage-Odaiba Central High School, Japan, Earth

Matt-Yamato Ishida-Age 16-Friendship-Odaiba Central High School, Japan, Earth

Sora-Sora Takenouchi-Age 16-Love-Odaiba Central High School, Japan, Earth

Izzy-Koushiro Izumi-Age 15-Knowledge-Odaiba Central High School, Japan, Earth

Mimi-Mimi Tachikawa-Age 15-Sincerity-Odaiba Central High School, Japan, Earth

Joe-Jyou Kido-Age 17-Reliability-Odaiba Private College Prep, Japan, Earth

CLEARANCE:Level 10, Unaware of the existence of Citadel

STATUS:INACTIVE RESERVE

Personnel File DD1.2

Digidestined Team Beta

Davis-Daisuke Motomiya-Age 13-None-Odaiba Northern Middle School, Japan, Earth

Ken-Ken Ichijouji-Age 14-Kindness-Odaiba Northern Middle School, Japan, Earth

Cody-Iori Hida-Age 11-None-North Central Odaiba Elementary, Japan, Earth

Yolei-Miyako Inoue-Age 14-None-Odaiba Northern Middle School, Japan, Earth

TK(*)-Takeru Takaichi-Age 13-Hope-Odaiba Northern Middle School, Japan, Earth

Kari(*)-Hikari Kamiya-Age 13-Light-Odaiba Northern Middle School, Japan, Earth

(*) Designates file flagged with Level 1 Security access

CLEARANCE:Level 10, Unaware of the existence of Citadel

STATUS:INACTIVE RESERVE

File Display complete…Update (Y/N)?Y

Status change: Active

Authority confirmed:Status changed to ACTIVE

Access Citadel Command Network.

Checking security classifications:Citadel Command Network Active and Online

Issue Orders:Fleet Dreadnought _Wellington_, dispatch from local patrol grounds to head for nearest Earth access under full cloak…

Every day they get followed.To school, away from school, around their homes, through the city, everywhere.Those twelve kids, with their cushy lives, their jokes and games, their after-school entertainments, nights at the movies, trips to rock concerts, were followed every step of the way.They never know it, never watch what's behind them, never see those who pass in their wake.Those who follow them prefer it that way.

Jessica Wright looked at the night sky.It was crisp and clear, cool with overtones of cold for later on, but for now, it was warm for that time of year.Their were only a handful of patches of fog hovering over the coastline, and the stars shone brightly.The winds held themselves to a minimum, blowing quietly every once in a while, and that meant that there was little disturbance.And the city updrafts were wonderful.

A perfect night for flying.

She hovered, about sixty or seventy meters over the street, watching through the plate glass windows as the last few riffs faded away inside.There was a moment of silence, and then some applause, gradually building in to a roar, as those around the center stage began to stand up.The band on the stage took a few bows, and then dropped back off the stage as the next group loaded up their stuff on top.

"Great job Matt!" Tai clapped the lead singer on the shoulder, nearly knocking the black clad star sprawling.

"Careful Tai!" Matt looked back up."I don't want to lose any of this stuff." He looked pointedly at the huge load of instrument, microphone and audio gear he was carrying.

"I'll help you with that."Tai moved closer, grabbing some of the parts that were on the verge of succumbing to gravity, trying not to wrinkle his dress shirt.At his shoulder Kari, wearing her new white dress moved in to help.

"How about a little help from you bro?"Matt called over his shoulder.

TK stumbled up, weaving gradually from side to side in the cleared exit aisle."I would, but you're not the one carrying the speakers."Kari stopped, came over to him and took one of the speakers from him wordlessly.

"Let's get all this stuff to my Dad's van." Matt suggested while they distributed the load."We can get it loaded up, and then come back before the next bands are finished.Then we can enjoy the rest of the charity dinner."

Tai nodded.Matt's Dad was here covering the dinner with his news crew, but Matt had agreed to join in the concert just to generate a little goodwill and entertainment.

A voice interrupted Jessica's thoughts:_We're done patrolling the Highton View area, and are headed back out of sight.Nothing to report, we'll take over from number two flight in about twenty minutes._

_I hear you.Two flight, you can head back and get some rest once they get here._

_I copy_.This time the voice was lighter, less aggressive, and decidedly relieved.Keeping a bunch of flying Digimon out of sight was one of the least desirable jobs in the world.Fortunately, a handful of Gennai's modified firewalls seemed to be doing the trick nicely, if not perfectly.

Jessica turned her attention back to the four youngsters, who were even then entering the parking structure attached to the building, and that was when everything went plain crazy.

Cortell called the impulses that come from extended exposure to the crests insights, and tried to explain this through a number of different scientific models.Jan just looked wise and called it intuition.But perhaps, most fitting, Andrel and Gennai both looked at her and said "It just is!".Nevertheless, sometimes a striking certainty would come over one of the crest bearers, a prediction of things to come, or a dire warning.

"Status report on everyone, now!" she was talking out loud now, as it required less concentration.

"This is Jan, I'm watching over Ken now, he's studying a book at his house."

"Two flight here, I have visual on Cody and Yolei, they're both working at Cody's on his computer.And eating brownies."

"Six here.Sora's studying for her history exam."

"Five here.Izzy's online, researching something for his history exam.Visual confirmation check."

"Four flight, reporting visual confirmation on Joe, he's at home, studying as usual."

"Overwatch one here, I can see Davis practicing his soccer.Inside." the last was with a verbal wince.

"Seven here.I have Mimi on visual, doing her hair and reading a book."

As the voices echoed out of the air next to her head, the feeling of unease grew.If everyone else was home, than the four with her were in the only truly exposed place.If she was wrong, she might pull protection off of people who needed it.But if she wasn't…

Her feeling intensified as the foursome walked out into the cold night air on the exposed structure.There was no mistaking this feeling.

"I need backup at my position now.I think we have a situation."

She could feel the communication lines explode into static as backup units who had been resting in different parts of the city raced toward her, but they probably would not get here in time, unless her premonitions were wrong again.

Right on cue, a group of dark shadows became evident, a group of people lurking around that particular floor of the parking structure, where the four were now walking.They continued on, oblivious to the sudden danger.

"So where's the van?" TK asked, most of his vision still blocked by the load of speakers he was carrying.

"Somewhere on this floor.I was a little busy when we got here." Matt tried to pull out the keys when suddenly the first of the people began to emerge out of the parked cars in front of them. His eyes got real wide, and he stopped going forward, which halted the rest of the procession rather unceremoniously.

Jessica dropped out of the sky into the garage in a rush of wind, mentally broadcasting images of what was going on.In the back of her mind she could hear the sound as Jan tucked himself into a dart and accelerated to unbelievable speeds.For some reason Jan's connection and infatuation with speed meant that he was the fastest of them all in his unaltered state, even giving Imperial Dramon a run for his money.Now, he was hurtling above the skyscrapers, barely managing to hide the sound of his sonic booms as they threatened to echo across the city.

"Why did you do that Matt?" Tai asked as he ran into Matt from behind.

"What do you want?" Matt asked, ignoring Tai and concentrating on the semi-circle of dark figures that was now blocking their path.

"Depends," a raspy voice responded."What do you have?"

There was a glint as light flashed off of knives in the dark.Tai dropped what he was carrying, Matt and TK set there loads down a little more lightly.All four begin to back up, before another group of figures appeared.Kari gasped and everyone turned to watch them.Now, the four were still backing up, but they were being trapped against the edge of a fifth story building.

Jessica walked out of the dark, feverishly remembering Gennai's instructions._Try not to digivolve, try not to leave visible evidence that you're not a normal human, try not to rip a hole in space.Do things the normal way_.Inside her she cringed._Knives, I hate knives.And I hate being outnumbered.Why is it me who gets to do this?Jan would love it_.

She could still hear him in her mind, pitching on a wildly elusive course through a maze of skyscrapers, but he probably would not get there in time.It was up to her now.

"I think these people told you to leave them alone."Jessica counted silently.There were only seven of them, not actually long odds, but they were after the kids, not her, and she had to keep any of the spread out assailants from getting through.All of them looked like out of work street toughs out for a night of fun, not truly dangerous, but she remained cautious._Assumption like that get you killed_.The lighting was faint, so all she could really make out was that they wore black and each one carried a knife, or other metallic instrument, as a weapon.

"Out of the way girly, we'll see to you later." the one in the middle appeared to be the leader, he was at least the talker.

And that was bad.Normal street toughs would take the first target they were offered, not waste time on ones farther away.These people were after the children.

She let them take three more menacing steps, and then she attacked.Spinning kick, drop the first one around you.Drop the leg, rotate the hips, move on through, grab a wrist and a descending knife, twist, shatter the wrist, throw the man on it.Grab the guy who is trying to slip past you, realize he is too heavy to move.

_There's no such thing as too heavy, too strong, or too tough_.Jan's voice echoed in her head from long ago._There are just things you try, and things you do not_.

Rotate the lower body and throw him too, giving him a kick in the stomach for good measure.Jessica blinked, three down, but the rest were already past and rushing for the others, shadows in the dim lamplight.She cheated just a bit, putting on a bit of speed and encasing her foot in a wall of force, so that her flying kick sent one of the thugs spinning out across the floor.She tripped another on his own shoelaces, before pounding his head into the concrete floor.One of the guys had gone straight for TK, who had jumped back, and Matt had swept in, landing a punch right in the guys jaw, knocking him sprawling, but the last one…

The last man twisted around Tai and sent his knife plunging downward, missing Tai completely, but raking quickly across Kari's shoulder.The brown haired girl gave a startled squeal, her eyes grew wide, and then she collapsed in a heap.

That's not supposed to happen! Jessica's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates.No minor scrape could do that much damage!What was going on here?

Her thoughts were interrupted by another source of worry.A low growl was growing in TK's throat.A very loud growl, and his eyes were starting to look a little unfocused, a little wild.His killer glare came up, and then his fist shot out right for the chest of Kari's assailant.The man who blocked him was easily twice as big and twice as strong, but for some reason, that did not matter any more.TK's punch could have broken through concrete, and the sound as ribs shattered, and an arm broke was nearly deafening.

Jessica's heart dropped through her ribs.Suddenly all of Gennai's dire warnings went out the window as she geared up for a real battle, not the sparring match she had just been in.

"Citadel, we have a situation.TK's crest just went rogue." her voice was speaking quickly and by instinct.Already she was moving, trying to get between TK and his target, trying to prevent what was turning out to be a murder.She may have been stronger, but the crest of Hope was one of the most powerful.Any combat between the two would result in the destruction of half of Odaiba, not to mention a casualty list in the thousands.

In her head, she could feel Citadel's communications network explode into action._Gennai, Jan, anyone, could you just get down here! _she asked quietly.

Then, behind the now murderous TK there was a sudden rush of air, and a figure, wearing elaborate silver and black armor stood, on the empty air outside the structure, transparent and forbidding, raising one imperious hand in a clear gesture of command.

And TK's anger and power drained from him like water from a sieve, letting him come to rest beside the now unconscious man.Quickly, he turned around and ran to where Tai was already trying to rouse Kari, shaking her with increasingly frantic motions.The figure behind him was already gone.

Jan ran up beside her, not even breathing hard.He took a single look at the situation and then headed over to where Kari was lying, talking to Jessica mentally._And what just happened?_

_He was here_.Jessica sent back, still recovering.Of all of them, His power was the most undefined and hardest to understand._See to Kari.I'll check if there was poison on the knife._

Jan nodded, walking carefully over to where Kari was lying in a heap, and motioning reassuringly to Matt and TK."Don't worry, I already called the police when I heard everything happening.They're on the way.I'm sort of an expert on injuries.Can I see?"

Tai just sat there, oblivious to what was going on around him, so Jan moved him carefully out of the way and took a look at the cut on Kari's shoulder.He let out a short, relieved laugh."Don't worry about it.I've gotten cut worse while getting a haircut.She probably just fainted from the shock, or hit her head or something.She'll be fine.Still, you might want to let the hospital take a look at her."

Tai looked so relieved that, for a moment, Jan thought he might burst out in tears over this.TK still just looked tired.Crest drain, Jan thought analytically, the first time I used my crest to do that, I was on my back for three days.Matt nodded at him, and then went over to where Jessica was examining a knife blade.

"I just wanted to thank you…"he began.

Jessica cut him off with a smile."No problem.I would do that for anyone if they needed it, and I would like to think that you would help me in the same way.I'm glad nobody got too hurt, just watch yourself in the future."A little reinforced caution lesson now might advert major catastrophe later on.She looked up at Jan and nodded once, Poison, one of the ones she did not recognize.Jan responded very cautiously.Beneath, the sound of sirens roared to life, and ended as an ambulance pulled up beside them, flashing red lights all over the garage.Two uniformed paramedics stepped down from the cabin and took a look at the scene.Behind them, more vehicles pulled up, paramedics and police both bolting out in a hurry.

Two people shoved the friends aside and kneeled down next to Kari, quickly checking her pulse and her breathing."Excuse me," one of them turned, almost startling Jessica into outright laughter, "we'll take it from here.Are you friends of the victim?"

There were nods all around.Even the normally taciturn Jan was having problems controlling his grin._Amanda and Cortell in paramedic's uniforms!_ Jessica thought, _this is just too much!I bet they're not liking this part_.

Nevertheless, Amanda and Cortell quickly maneuvered Kari onto a stretcher and, still unconscious, into the ambulance, and had a quick word with the police.After a moment they gestured and all six of the witnesses got into the back of the ambulance, which slowly started to roll off to the hospital.Behind them, two police cars also started moving, the police apparently needing to talk with everyone, but having consented to wait until people were at the hospital.

Cortell was still standing in the back, and, ignoring a frantic Tai and a nervous TK, turned to the two elders of the group._Gennai flashed us a warning, his voice echoed in their minds, he said we're probably going to need the two of us.When we get to the hospital, you will need to stall the police and the relatives and anybody else who comes by, because it looks like we're going to have a lot of work to do_.

_How so?Isn't this a simple poison cure?_ Jan replied._I've seen you do that a thousand times_.

_Not that easy.Whatever happened destabilized her crest.Severely.We're going to have to realign it, and that will be the hard part.Can you describe the attack?_

Jessica did, and Cortell looked Kari over again and nodded, his eyes now clouded in thought.Jessica and Jan exchanged glances, and they both shrugged, knowing that the bearer of the Crest of Knowledge had now temporarily left the known universe, and was perusing universes of his own.He could do this for hours, so Jessica and Jan just settled down for the ride.

Matt was talking quietly to TK, reassuring him until TK was more settled down, then, working together, they managed to bludgeon Tai off of Kari, calming him down when the ambulance reached the hospital with a screech.Other attendants came, unloaded the stretcher, and moved Kari through the stares in the emergency room and into one of the private medical rooms at the end of a long, white, sterilized corridor.Matt, Jessica, Jan, Tai and TK were stopped outside by one of the doctors and a uniformed police officer.

"I need someone who can tell me what happened." the officer demanded."We're going to need witness testimony recorded."

"And I need someone to tell me the girl's medical history." the doctor told them."Don't worry, with an injury that minor she should be fine, we just need to know in case there is anything that we have to do special."

"We can witness." Jessica volunteered, pulling Jan with her and mentally rehearsing her story.

"I can too." Matt volunteered.

"And I know her medical history.She's had some problems before.She's going to be all right, isn't she?She's just got to be all right!" Tai was getting frantic again.

"Yes, she will." the doctor smiled reassuringly."She'll be just fine.Son," he looked over at TK, "we don't need you at the moment, so you can go in and see her.I'll call you out if you're needed, since we aren't doing anything at the moment in there."

TK nodded, and was off like a shot.Jessica smiled to herself and began the difficult task of holding off the authorities.

Kari jerked awake with a gasp, hands going to her shoulder in response to the pain the blossomed there briefly.A moment later, she calmed down, her breathing returning to normal.She looked around, she seemed to be floating in a bed, lost amid a vast emptiness that looked hauntingly familiar, but completely different from anything she had seen before.There was no beginning and no end, no horizons and no landmarks, just a rolling sea of darkness.The only thing that she could see was a faint outline at her right side, TK, head down and hat off, watching her.

"TK?" she asked, trying to shake him.Her eyes widened in alarm as her hand passed right through his body."TK!" she yelled.

"Takeru!" she shrieked, almost surrendering to panic.

TK's eyes seemed to focus a little better, and then the outline filled in with a rush and he was there, solid and everything.

"Kari!" he yelled ecstatically.

"TK!" she responded, grabbing his hand to reassure her that she would not pass through him.

"You're all right, wait until I tell the others…Where are we!?"

"I don't know." Kari sunk into a slouch."I was hoping you would know what to do."

TK breathed in carefully."OK, you remember the attack?"

"Yes."

"We took you to the hospital.They put you in a room and let me in.I was watching you breathe, when I heard you calling my name.I don't know how but I followed your voice, and here I am."

"So we're in a hospital?"

"I guess our bodies are or something.I have no idea where we are now."

Suddenly, Kari held her hand up."…Listen."

Shadowy outlines began to form around the bed; adults from their size, and noises began to intrude on their perceptions.

"So what if it overloads and backfires?Then what?"

"I was hoping he would have an answer for that one…"

"Well, we could possibly open a secondary bypass or something on the main."

Kari turned to TK again."Are those the doctors out there?"

"I hope not." TK replied uneasily."They sound like they're doing major surgery, and you don't need it."

The voices continued:

"At least tell me we have a plan B."

"We have a plan B."

"OK, what is plan B."

"How should I know?"

"Then why did you tell me…"

"We always have a plan B.Right guys?"

"You mean, shoot at the bad guys and run like hell?"

"Something like that."

"You people are no help at all."

Suddenly a woman appeared before the two teenagers.One moment, there was nothing, the next a blossom of light that seemed to unfold into a tall woman with long flowing black hair trailing down to her waist.Her skin glinted pale white in the dark and cloudy void that they were floating in, her clothing was pale white as well, a long dress with red trimming.Her smile however, was warm and generous.

"I assume that you are sort of confused about what you are doing here." the way she stated it, it was not much of a question.Her smile only increased at their sudden consternation.

"Well, yes." TK snapped after a moment."If you suddenly found yourself floating with your best friend in the middle of a sea of darkness, wouldn't you be sort of curious?"

"No, not really." she replied."That seems to happen a lot to me.Maybe it's just the people I hang out with."

"So what's happening?" Kari asked."Why am I sitting here?"

The woman sighed quietly before continuing."I guess that there's no real easy way to say this.You were stabbed with a knife.A knife with an extremely nasty poison on the tip.It attacks the mind and the spirit, and usually, there is no cure."

TK felt his heart jump to his mouth.Kari felt hers drop through her ribs and to the bottom of her chest deeper with a deep throbbing pain.

"There's no hope?" TK asked, trying to find something, anything, that would override this horrible fate.

"You of all people should know that there is always hope." the woman smiled."Andrel, Cortell and Amanda are trying to theorize their way through it before they start working on her.Nevertheless, they are confident that they can save her life.It's her mind that they're worried about.And yours."

"What!?" TK exclaimed.

"Who are you?" asked Kari at the same time.

The woman laughed."You can call me Vona, and think of me as a friend."

"I'm Kari Kamiya.Pleased to meet you."

"I'm Takeru, but everyone calls me TK.I'm honored to meet you Vona."

Vona inclined her head in respect.

"You remind me of my friend Sora for some reason." Kari rested her chin on her fist."I wonder why?"

There was a sudden flare of red light on Vona's chest, and the sudden illumination forced them to close their eyes.When the glare faded, there was, etched in fire, the Crest of Love glowing steadfastly on her chest, the red heart burning with an inner fire.

"That's the Crest of Love." TK gasped, his sudden surprise making him repeat the obvious dangling in front of his face.

"The original."Vona added.At seeing their confusion, she added "Not like those copies that you have, the powered down versions that _they_," she inclined her head at the muted voices in the background to give an indication of who she was talking about "constructed for you."

"Copies?" Kari asked.

"Original?" TK added.

"It'll be explained later.Once they're done arguing I expect." In the background the voices continued.

"Well, we could do it without fully powering up the…"

"Yeah, in your dreams."

"My dreams maybe, but not yours."

"Whatever."

"Maybe if we double strung the lattice edge…"

"Gennai, if you don't get serious right now, you're going to need a lot more than this hospital to put you back together again."

Kari and TK both started."Gennai's here?" TK gasped.

"Yep, all the big players are here actually.There's enough concentrated power in the neighborhood to reduce this world into ashes probably.Right now they have to go over the procedure they're going to do before they get started.They would really hate to do this wrong and screw everything up."

"I heard that!" Gennai materialized next to the bed, looking young and wearing his gray robes with their silver lining."I thought you should all know, Andrel is almost satisfied, which means that we're almost ready to start."

"Start what?" Kari asked.

"Saving your life.It's a complicated process.You can bug Andrel if you want the details.TK, since you are the only one that can be here, you're going to need to support Kari.Michael and Vona will support you."

A small brown haired kid appeared next to TK."Hi, I'm Mike.I'll help you out on this.Don't worry, leave everything to us.We'll take care of it."

"The rest of us…" Gennai continued, nodding briefly to the child, "will be supporting Kari.We brought four of us." He turned to Vona."Cortell and Andrel will actually be the ones doing the work.We'll just back them up."

Vona nodded as if to say that she had expected as much.

"What are they doing now?" Michael asked curiously, raising a hand to brush a shred of brown hair out of his face.

"Arguing."Gennai rolled his eyes up in his head."What else did you expect them to do?"

"Nothing I guess.If they're going to get to work, they have to argue first.Otherwise they argue while they're working, and that's worse."

"Smart kid."

"What is who arguing about?" Kari asked, having gotten lost in the conversation.TK was watching Michael as if he was familiar, but he could not seem to place it.

"Cortell, Amanda and Andrel are arguing about how they're going to save you.It sounds odd, but it serves its purpose, which is releasing tension.They'd rather die than have it be common knowledge, but all three of them get profoundly nervous and insecure when lives are on the line.They let it out beforehand so that everything will turn out all right."

"Yeah!" Michael chimed in."They've done that for years!"

"And sometimes we get tired of it.But we always let them do it." Vona was smiling broadly."Because, the truth is that they're the best we've got.There isn't a single thing they can't fix."

Kari sighed."I wish I knew what they were going to do to me."

"You don't want to." Gennai stated this flatly."Trust me, you really don't want to even hear what they're saying."

There was another flash, and suddenly a man was standing there.He was tall, with long brown hair falling down to shoulders, wearing a plain black set of clothes, loosely cut, but still well fit, and lined with silver.His face was angular, but plain, and his eyes danced with power, radiating a soft gentle emotional glow over the world he surveyed.In one hand he held a familiar device.

"Cortell thinks that the rig we used will supercharge the Egg of Miracles." He raised his hand and the angular, golden egg floated gently through the air to a space in front of Kari's face, lighting her with soft, glowing, comforting light."He is not so sure about the link that we established, so we may end up having to drain a Digi-Core or two on the way, but we're both confident that we'll succeed.Gennai, Vona, Mike, if you would assume your positions please."

All three of the others nodded, Gennai taking five steps back and assuming a strange posture, one arm drawn up, the other thrust straight out.Michael and Vona looked at each other, and then lay a hand each on TK's shoulder, bracing him, as they began to glow from within, Vona a deep red, Michael a bright gold.

"Hikari Kamiya, bearer of the latest of the Crests of Light, before we began this procedure, there are certain things we should agree upon." the new man was speaking in a deep, rolling voice, more formal, yet somehow more playful than any of Kari's teachers had ever managed.

"Y..yes." Kari stammered, unnerved at being the focus of the eyes, which had sharpened to hawk-like intensities.

"There are a few conditions to this procedure.The first two, the only ones that you need to know now, are that you will take a series of lessons from some of us in the future.The second is that you will remember nothing of this for some time.Takeru must also submit to the same conditions."

"But why…" Kari began, and then looked into his face."Is this the only way to save my life?"

He nodded.

She looked over at TK, and saw him nod, once solemnly, and she looked back and nodded once as well.

The man's face split into a kindly grin, and he gripped her roughly, yet friendly-like on the shoulder."I'm glad that you've decided to live.I promise you, on my honor, something which I do not do lightly, that you will not object to any further conditions, and that you will one day approve of what we do here."

Kari just stared into his eyes.In the periphery of her vision another woman appeared with a short man, and they both walked around her bed to other positions.But for now, she ignored them, staring into eyes that promised something, that someday, something would…

And then the man broke contact, taking her hands in his and pressing them closely and carefully to the sides of the golden egg in front of her.Vona smiled encouragingly at Kari and took TK's hand and placed it on her shoulder.For a moment there was nothing but silence, and Kari could feel the warmth flow through her from TK's hand, and from the golden fire she held in her hands.And then the man in front of her straightened in a pre-arranged signal.

For a moment there was nothing, and then the four who were not holding TK began to move their hands, slowly at first, and then faster and faster, weaving intricate patterns that Kari could barely follow, weaves of gold and silver thread, gleaming like moonlight and sunlight, dancing in the air.The patterns solidified, into worlds and lands, people and places, the sound of autumn leaves and the feel of the spring sun, and yet they continued weaving, sending power into the air, not in some torrential hurricane, but in a slow flow.Despite the care they put in their actions it became obvious that the power they were wielding was as unstoppable as a glacier, binding the universe together for some unknown purpose.And then she felt it settle in her, burning her soul.

At that moment the artifice in her hands erupted in golden fire, racing up her hands, purging her soul in a wash of fire, driving everything except the joy of being alive and the light of eternity from her body._Is this what it feels like when they digivolve_? she thought for a moment, as the glowing light reached her head, and then there was only the fire.

For a moment, the fire died and she was alone, suspended in deepest darkness, and then she felt more power, pouring down TK's arm, into her body, not just a support, but a beacon guiding her home.And she grabbed onto that light with all her might and she _pulled_…

TK blinked twice.He was holding onto Kari's shoulder because… because… well, there must have been some reason, something was definitely bugging him about the whole situation, but he could not truly remember anything.It had been dark, and someone had said…something.Or had anyone been there at all?And if so who, and where were they now?All he could remember clearly was that attack in the parking structure.So what was going on?

Beneath his hand Kari suddenly coughed once and sat up, startling TK.She blinked twice and then looked around, wincing as her shoulder pained her for a moment, and then frowning in concentration."What just happened TK?"

"I don't know." TK admitted, "I thought that something happened, but now I'm just confused about the whole thing."

Kari smiled at him."Well, whatever happened, we'll remember sooner or later.At least I'm better."

"Yes.I'm glad." TK stroked her shoulder (not the injured one) very carefully.Kari smiled at him.Then a sudden thought struck her.

"Tai must be frantic!"

"And she was treated by what doctor?" the nurse was quietly talking to Tai, asking him questions, while the police officer was still taking their testimony.Jan nodded at a question, his credentials as a martial arts master, and his story that he had been training Jessica (not a lie at all) seemed to hold some weight here.He had already felt the subtle shifting of power that accompanied a working by the four greater seals, and he was waiting for word on how progress went, and a chance to get out of here.

The door to the room creaked open quietly and TK walked out, supporting a smiling Kari on one hand.Tai stopped whatever he was saying and rushed to her, lifting her up in a great hug, spinning her almost completely around before setting her down again.TK smiled at Matt, who clapped Tai on the back.

"I'm fine Tai." Kari told her brother affectionately, "My shoulder hurts a little, but other than that I'm fine."

The police and the doctors decided that now was a good time to arrive in force, and the next hour was spent answering questions.The police decided they had enough information to prosecute the criminals after about an hour of collecting statements.After a careful examination, the medical staff decided that Kari would be fine, they would keep her overnight just in case, and then she could return home tomorrow.Tai breathed a bit easier about that, just as his parents screeched into the ward, clearly expecting the worse, only to be reassured by a laughing Kari and a set of calm doctors.After a short break, Matt's Dad arrived, followed by Joe, who was wearing his hospital volunteer clothes and identification, prompting another round of explanation.At least they came out happy in the end.

By this time, Jan and Jessica had been interrogated and thanked a dozen times over, and they were trying to bow out graciously without offending anybody.Jan really wanted a long conversation with Gennai after this was over.

"You might want to get the kids in some kind of self-defense class after this." Jessica suggested frowning, "This sort of thing is becoming way more common than we would like."Kari was looking on with wide eyes, the Kamiyas looked disconcerted, Matt and TK looked at each other with odd glances, while the bystanders merely ignored them.

"Well, maybe, but Kari?She's just a little girl…" Tai began, inspiring a death glare from his sister.

Jessica gave no hint of movement to betray herself.From standing she wrenched herself around, bringing her right leg up in a letter-perfect spinning wheel kick.Jan was an expert at these, but he had to admit that Jess had a neat trick that would have let her throw a normally wide kick in a narrow alley.Her foot came around like a whirling hammer, whipping down, and then stopped, resting lightly on Tai's shoulder less than ten centimeters from his jaw.

"Yes?" Jessica asked quietly."You were going to say something?Something nice I hope."

"Uuuhhhh…." for some reason, Tai's attention was solely fixed on the foot next to his face.

"Good old Tai!" Matt was laughing."Always sticking his foot in his mouth.You should really stop that, you'll wear out your shoes."

Kari and TK giggled.Jessica smiled in reassurance, repeated her suggestion, and then bowed and left with Jan.


	2. First Thunder

Disclaimer: I still own nothing in this story except for Citadel's finest

Disclaimer:I still own nothing in this story except for Citadel's finest.Heck, I don't even own this computer.Or this chair.So sue me.Hahahahaha….I especially don't own Digimon, but if you do and you're thinking about selling I have a nice pen here you can have…

Author's Note:A continuation, but not the true start.I know, for a prologue, this thing is enormous.Sorry about that.

Gennai watched the traffic patterns below him for a moment before returning his attention to the group hovering in the air in front of him.There were six of them, himself, Mike, Amanda, Andrel, Cortell and Vona, almost a hundred meters over the Kamiya apartment.Enough concentrated power to sink Japan back into the sea, and they were waiting for instructions.

Cortell sighed and checked another set of readouts."As much as I hate to admit it, and I do hate to admit it, I think that Andrel may be right.Someone has been manipulating the Digidestined.Not obviously, no, but enough that the traits that powered their crests are starting to fail, starting to drift away.Ken has always been a problem, but the original six are having real troubles sticking to their strengths.Someone is moving them away.Takeru and Kari are the real problems of course, all this person has to do is accelerate the destabilization of their crests internal patterns and they'll be lucky to escape this as raving lunatics.We need to act on this fast."

Gennai frowned."Word from the south is that war may be upon us any day.I hope that we can hold out for this.Quite frankly, I don't have the time to deal with this.It's going to be up to the rest of you."

"Wonderful." Vona intoned dryly.

"Oh, I'll be around, as will the others.But you know how it goes…"

"Certainly."

"The easiest way to do this would be for us to set down and just tell them what's going on…" Cortell mused, fingering a strand of power.

"NO!" Gennai, Andrel, Amanda and Mike all shouted at once.Cortell blinked and than shut up.The seals only talked that way when they were receiving insights from their crests, and if they all spoke up at once, it would have to be pretty serious.He abandoned the line of thought, storing it for future inquiry.

"Tabling that argument," Cortell continued, "I suggest that we confront each problem individually, as it happens."

Gennai nodded.

"Furthermore, I suggest that we double forces on Overwatch and guard duty."

Gennai nodded again.

"And that we assign some major backup for this sector."

Gennai nodded a third time.

"Plus, we need some major assets in the Programming department here.And flight backup…"

Gennai nodded once more.

"And for you to buy us all pizza."

"In your dreams computer boy."

Cortell grinned at him, and then turned to Andrel."Do we have backup?"

"I'll get you some.We were lucky this time, I don't think they expected to have any crestbearers in the region, especially Jessica and Jan.Next time, I'll have four Megas on overwatch.That ought to slow things down."

"Permanent or Temporary Megas?"

"Temporary.I wish I could get you some permanents, but we need them at higher levels."

"I understand." Cortell met Andrel's iron gaze with even eyes.He understood, sometimes victory took precedence over safety.

"Anyway, we can drop in now and figure out what we're going to do about this."

"Right."

Kari smiled as Tai went out of his way to make sure she had something to drink.He had been acting a little overprotective ever since she had gotten injured in the attack in the parking garage last night.Although they had not kept her in the hospital more than overnight Matt, Sora and Yolei had put their heads together and had come up with a "Welcome Home" party, where all the Digidestined would come over, eat a potluck dinner, and spend the night.The Kamiya parents were letting them party almost unsupervised, but the tone was quiet, the sound of people thinking and laughing quietly rather than loud music, and hot, crowded floors like other parties.Kari rather liked it that way.

TK made an awful pun off to her right side, and she punched him lightly in the shoulder, grinning at him.Tai rolled his eyes, but Sora was sitting there looking thoughtful.Ken actually chuckled, a sound he made more often these days, and both Yolei and Davis slapped him on the back.Mimi and Matt were trading stories about some of the crazies they had chasing them, while Izzy sat talking to Joe and Cody off to one side.Everyone was having a good time, enjoying the company of friends.But she did have some business…

She gestured at TK, and he leaned over her curiously."I need to talk with you and Izzy.Really need to talk." She thought for a moment."You better bring Ken along too, I have a feeling this may be more important than we thought." She smiled at the corner where the Digimon were engaged in a game of See Who Can Eat The Most."We'll keep the Digimon out of it for the moment."

TK's gaze sharpened suddenly, and he nodded.He went over to Ken and tapped him on the shoulder."Kari and I need to have a private conversation," he watched Davis glare at him for a moment, "with you.Could you get Izzy and come meet in her room?"

"Of course." Ken smiled up at them, a little puzzled, but as always, courteous and polite.

"Oh, and Yolei?"

"Yes TK?"

"Keep Davis from listening at the door for us, will you?"

"Of course."

"That's not funny TA!"

TK just smiled and gave Kari an arm to support her as she got up, smiling back at him.Izzy came over when they gestured at him, he was looking more worried than he was puzzled.Kari winked at Tai and walked to her room, with Izzy, TK and Ken with her.

"Huh!" Tai wondered, before Sora recaptured his attention."I wonder what that's all about?"

"Something happened yesterday." The way Izzy said it, it was not much of a question.Ken looked up startled, but TK and Kari just nodded.

"What?" Izzy continued, staring at them.

"I don't know.And unless TK has been hiding something, he doesn't know either."

"What are you talking about?" Ken asked in his quiet voice.

"It's really quite easy." Izzy told him, smiling.The continuing wrangling between the two geniuses was now a firm tradition."No knife wound could do to Kari what that one did.She could have bumped her head, but that's logically inconsistent, she has no bruise, no impact marks, and it's physically impossible that a blow like that could avoid leaving a mark.So what happened?"

"Could she have fainted?" Ken asked, not sounding as if his option was very believable.

"I've only seen Kari faint twice." TK told him."And both times it was under the influence of the Crest of Light.And the doctors agree that there was no evidence of disease, so that can't be it either.Plus…"

"What?" Ken and Izzy both exclaimed.

"I remember something.Something happened, when we were alone in the room before she woke up.Something odd, and different, not something that would happen in the real world.Something almost magical.But I can't get a clear memory.It's like trying to remember an old dream, it just keeps slipping farther away."

"Can you remember anything?" Ken's voice was intent.

"Only images, vague ones." Kari responded."I remember a man, or maybe several, in glowing armor, sort of like Magnamon's but different, all swirly and glowy, and a kid and some other people, and a glowing golden light." She paused for a moment."And for some reason, I remember seeing the crest of Love."

"That's not good." Izzy muttered."Actually, that's close to catastrophic."

Kari and TK both winced.Whenever Izzy used words like catastrophic, really bad things were in the offing.They both turned to look at each other, as if trying to dredge something else out of their memories.

"Do you think that Sora was involved?" Ken asked.

"No." Kari's reply was immediate."There was a faint feeling of surprise, that this person wasn't Sora, but that's about all I remember."

"Do you remember anything else?Anything at all?"

"No, that's why we decided to tell you guys.You're the smart ones, and you have an almost instinctive knowledge of when things are about to go wrong.Do you have any ideas?"

Izzy had already pulled out his backpack from where he had dropped it near Tai's desk, removed his laptop, and was typing rapidly.After a moment he sat back."I see nothing, and I purposefully set up programs to monitor the Digital World and look out for this kind of thing.And that means were in trouble.Real trouble."

"Are we blowing this out of proportion?" Ken asked, turning worriedly to Izzy.

"Not a chance."

There was a sudden explosion of noise by the door, the sounds of people scuffling, followed by the sounds of Sora saying; "Quick, I got his arms."

"Come on Davis!" Yolei was yelling."No listening at the door.And no getting out of this game."

There was a knock at the door and Joe stuck his head in, nudging up his glasses and grinning at them."Sorry, we had to drag Davis away.Hey, you guys look pretty serious, what's up."

"Come in, and close the door." Izzy's voice was calm.Kari and TK just looked at each other.It was easy to dismiss Izzy sometimes, relegate him to the background, because he was not a very loud guy.But whenever he found something important, he simply took charge.Tai might have been the leader, but if Izzy had told him to jump, Tai would have been out the window and halfway down the apartment before remembering to ask 'Which way?'.

Joe's eyes widened.He too recognized the tone of Izzy when he was "in the zone".He closed the door and then sat down cross-legged in front of them.

"Joe, as a student of medicine I know that you haven't had much experience, but could you explain Kari's behavior last night?"

Joe's eyes grew wide, and he blinked a few times before answering, honestly"No."

"Now, I know you have developed, at times, an interesting streak of curiosity, that occasionally drives you to take a look at certain things.What were the anomalies on Kari's chart?"

Joe blinked again, and his jaw dropped for a moment before he got it back together."How did you know about that?"

"Joe, you don't send people into the medical wing straight to the intensive ward without good cause.And you don't keep them overnight just because she bumped her head.What was on the charts?"

Joe sighed and took off his glasses."Okay, I didn't want to tell anyone about this, because I thought it would scare Kari, but you're going to start making some guesses soon, so I better come clean.The first problem was her unconscious state.There was no physical evidence for any kind of damage at all, so there was no reason for her to be unconscious at all.They ran a quick set of tests on her, which I snuck a look at.X-ray got nothing on her head, and neither did any of the other ones.

"The tests that scared the doctors were later.They took her pulse, but it was way too low, almost out of the safe zone and into the danger zone.Blood pressure was near bottom too, which is why she got the emergency ward.Then they took a quick EKG.We didn't have an MRI or even one of the fMRI units we're getting, and the more detailed scanners were off line so they hooked her up quick and got a light reading, checked it and tried to get another, but the resolution was so far…" he paused, wringing his hands."I'm rambling, aren't I."

"What happened to Kari's brain wave patterns?" Izzy asked quietly and evenly.

"Almost everything was acting like it was in a coma, almost everything was pretty much shut down.But there were a handful of exceptions.Some of the pieces which they think control the links between emotions and higher thought patterns were lit up like a firecracker.More than that, the action in those sections was probably the highest anyone had ever seen.It was like her brain was on triple overtime and dead at the same time but the wave pattern wasn't right for a sleeping person, or anything!"Joe sighed."I wish I knew what to do."

"You'll think of something." Izzy told him, his voice relaxed, but his eyes intent.

"No, I don't think we will.I think something happened and we we'll never be able to cure it."

"Stop right there!" Izzy held up his hand.

Everyone stared at him, even Joe looked shocked at his new tone.

"Let's go over the coincidences.A group of street toughs decides to hang out in a crowded parking lot, a crowded parking lot next to a big charity event.They wait while all the rich guests go in, and then they ambush four people who are carrying stereo equipment.They don't go after any easy targets, and they don't try and break into any cars.Nobody inside hears anything.And despite the fact that people should be running in and out, late workers, partygoers who forgot something, attendants, nobody else is in the parking structure."Izzy's eyes gleamed as he continued to count off points on his fingers.

"Nobody except for two people, and that's where it gets really weird.One is a woman who just happens to be one of the greatest martial artists I've ever heard of.Ken, you have more experience in that area, do you think…"

"She was a master." Ken told him bluntly."Unless somebody has lied on everything they told us, she must have been one of the greatest masters in all of Japan.And I've never heard of her, which says something in itself."

"What about her master, that Janero guy?" TK asked, repeating a name the woman had revealed in questioning.

Ken's eyes got as wide as dinner plates."Now that is a name to be reckoned with.And a name to impress me."

"Who is he?" Izzy asked."I've never heard of him."

"He was a martial arts legend, the world's greatest master for a time.He mastered about a dozen styles, for a time, but then he disappeared from the public view about fifteen years ago, and hasn't appeared since."

"Maybe he retired." Joe suggested.

"At twenty-five?" Ken asked, shooting him a glance."I remember reading something about him when I was in the Emperor stage.I thought that if he reappeared he might be the only one who could be my equal."

"And he taught her?" Izzy asked TK.

"That's what they both said."

"He was there?" Ken exclaimed.

"How curious." Izzy muttered."A student of the greatest martial arts master in the world, a master who disappeared fifteen years ago, appears just in time to save Kari and the others from death at the hands of thugs.And what do the thugs do when confronted by a superior force.Do they run away?No.Do they try and give up?No.They try and get through her to attack you.They had to know by this time that they're crime had failed, and this only makes sense if they were actually trying to attack one of you guys.Then one scrapes Kari, who has a tremendous medical reaction, and ends up in the hospital in odd medical conditions, is locked in a room with TK.Nobody goes in or out of that room, but a minute later TK exits with Kari, who has been miraculously cured of all her problems."

Everyone was getting grimmer and grimmer.The sounds of music outside drifted through the closed door faintly, and Izzy leaned forward to deliver a final statement.

"And this is timed to go along with the collapse of the Digidestined."

"The what?" Everyone shouted.

"We're falling apart, all of us.Haven't you noticed." Izzy continued intently."Joe, did you hear yourself earlier.I haven't seen you behave like that since we first arrived at File Island.Mimi is starting to talk entirely about fashion again, Sora's in a deep depression, Matt's growing distant, everyone's going crazy.I would normally trust Tai with my life, but now I wouldn't trust to lead a soccer team onto the field!We aren't quite as bad as we were before we got to the Digi-World the first time, but if we get any worse…" his voice faltered.

"How did you figure this out?" Joe was thinking, and from the look on his face, it was not a good thought.

"Have you seen me in the last two weeks?" Izzy snapped.

"Well, yeah, I saw you in the computer lab…"

"I walked by you on a bench, working on your laptop…"

"I came over to see what you were doing, but you were working on your computer, and seemed kind of busy so…"

Everyone stopped as what they were saying penetrated.

"I've been hovering over computers for the past two weeks.I haven't talked to anyone outside of class.I just realized what was going on two days ago.That's why I'm worried."

"Maybe it's just a phase, maybe it's just something that happened.I mean, out there were getting closer, aren't we?"TK's tone was one of a man who does not believe what they are saying.

"What I'm really worried about is that we're all assuming bad traits.Really bad traits.The traits we had to overcome in order to make our crests glow the first time.And you know what, it seems to have settled in?"

"But we don't have our crests anymore." Kari sounded puzzled.

"Yes, but in an emergency, can't you see Gennai or someone trying to rebuild them and give them to us.And now they're useless to us, until we can discover what's inside of us that makes them glow."Everyone nodded at Izzy's statement, feeling deeply troubled.

"But then there's something else." Izzy's comment caused them to jerk around."Remember all those coincidences that lead up the attack on Kari?"

"Well, yeah, that's what we're talking about." Joe replied.

"What doesn't fit?"

They stared at him for a moment before Ken gasped."Of course, why didn't we see it before!"

"What?" TK sounded excited.

"The turning point, when things didn't fit anymore." Ken sounded excited.

There was a scratch on the door.Joe opened it to reveal Wormmon trying to peer in the doorway."Tai wants to know if you want to come out.They're baking cookies."

"Tell him we'll be out in a few minutes." Kari smiled at the green worm, and he grinned back.Joe closed the door when he left.

"So Ken, tell us your theory."

"Everything is designed for one purpose.To attack the four of them.Right?"

Everyone nods.

"Except for the fact that, by a strange set of coincidences, Kari is still alive.More to the point, she was saved by an incredible set of coincidences."

"You're saying that something else happened." TK noted, his eyes narrowing.

"Let's assume that there is some force out there trying to harm us.The attack makes sense then, but your salvation doesn't.In fact, half our facts don't fit with the theory, unless we introduce another part."

"What part?" Kari leans over from her seat on her bed.

"A second agency." Izzy says the words with an icy calm the echoes in the room.

"A what?" Joe asked.

"Someone who is trying to protect us, to save us.Somehow, they're watching out for us, but the attack got through they're guard.Maybe they're like Gennai, able to make mistakes.After that, they swooped in, beat off the attack, and saved Kari at the hospital.It's the only explanation that makes sense."

"Should we tell the others?"

"I don't think so…" Ken's voice trailed off.

"No, we shouldn't." TK and Kari spoke up at once.

"Huh?" Joe asked.

"Why not?" Izzy put in.

"They need to discover this on their own.If you tell them it will just be empty words, it will mean nothing.Whoever is watching over us will help us if we need it." TK and Kari spoke up as one, matching each word perfectly.The effect had everyone else's hair standing on end.

"They sound like Paildramon." Ken whispered.

"I have an idea." Izzy began."Let's do what they say for now, alright.We'll talk about this more later."

"Right." Everyone stood up and left the room. 

"Oh man." Kari suddenly slapped her head."I remember why we don't let Tai in the kitchen anymore."

Everyone was standing around covered in cookie dough.Even the Digimon were looking embarrassed.Matt and Tai were wrestling on the floor, yelling something about dough in Matt's hair, and everyone else seemed to be enjoying the spectacle.

"Well, at least we can have fun cleaning up."

Jan stood and watched the grassy plains as they spread out.From here you could see, well, as far as the eye could see, a phrase that had always troubled him.But here it was true.Everywhere you looked there was grass and wind and a vast emptiness.On one hand, he enjoyed the calm feeling of tranquility, and on the other, he awaited what he knew was coming.

And suddenly, the world was no longer empty.

There was a shimmer of light, a twisting of space, a sudden rush of air, and then the space in front of Jan was filled by two kilometers of steel-titanium battle armor and bristling weapons arrays.The massive Fleet Dreadnought _Henry V_ was hovering in the air, a scant eighty meters above the ground, rushing forward at tremendous speed.As the vessel frantically cleared the Gate there was another shimmer and then a similar bulk, this time of a more rounded nature, appeared, and the supercarrier _Roland _was there.

There was a moment as the crew and its inhabitants recovered from the shock of transit, and then the huge vessel roared to life.While its mighty engines tried to claw free of the Gate transit zone, catapult and flight crews gave their systems a last thumbs up.With a roar of directional mass drivers and a thunder that shook the very earth, five squadrons of Ultimate and Mega Digimon were catapulted out of the flight decks of the _Roland_, screaming for altitude.Behind them the next units were hustled into launch position.Despite expectations to the contrary, it took time to launch squadrons of Digimon, who could not make the transit on their own.And without initial velocity, they were dead.Now the crews worked like maniacs, clearing the way for the next squadrons to hit the air.Bodies dived frantically out of the way as the second element lead, a huge Mega level Crossmon, extended a claw with a single talon up, a thumbs up with no hands.There was another roar, and then the second element was in the air, crawling to get distance between them.

Ahead of them the ground shook and roared in pain as the _Henry V_'s targeting systems stabilized, her gunnery officers conferred, and the full firepower of a two kilometer long ship of the line roared out in a horrible symphony.

Behind them there were two more flashes.The Dreadnought _Jellicoe_ emerged from transit, followed by the Supercarrier _John Henry_, which was already launching her ready squadrons.

The universe trembled again as the last flight of fighter Digimon emerged from the _Roland_, and as the _Henry V_ locked missiles on another target, and another huge broadside roared away from the lead vessel._Roland_ was now hurling the gunships into the air, huge passenger Digimon like MegaKabuterimon and other heavy fliers, loaded to the gills with external ordinance.It took longer to get these fighters off the ground, but the gunships were worth their weight in gold, if they could get off before the lead carrier got pasted by local defenses.

There was another pause of several heartbeats as the gunships screamed off the decks of the Supercarrier, and the _Jellicoe_ passed it by, shielding it with its own tremendous bulk.Fire roared and flashed in tremendous volleys as the world erupted in violence.

And then the last gunship was off the decks, and the _Roland_ stopped.Its survival was now meaningless.With all its wings off, it had given the assault wave precious moments, and the loses that the first squadrons would take would mean that a later Supercarrier could refit and rearm them.

Aboard the bridge of the Fleet Dreadnought _Charlemagne_, Jan dropped the timer he had been holding into the hands of the adjacent captain.It had a single time on it, five minutes, forty-seven seconds.

"Courage, Admiral, Captain, we have recorded a hundred percent kill ratio on the targets." A young human standing at the gunnery officer's station looked up at them.

"Very good officer."Jan looked over at the Admiral."You have four days to shave one minute and thirty seconds off that time."

The Admiral sighed and rolled his eyes."Yes sir."

As time grew later, the group split up.The girls went into Tai and Kari's room,. The guys stayed in the living room.Within a few minutes, they were all asleep.

Kari felt herself drifting in the darkness once more, slowly floating away from whatever had anchored her in one place before, free like a leaf on the storm tossed ocean.She raised a hand, more to see if it would still respond than to do anything with it, then let it fall again, returning lifeless to her side.Everything just seemed distant, floating in some far off fog, and she was unable to muster the energy to be truly worried about this situation, odd as it was.For a long time she just floated before the calm winds of that unknown place.

Suddenly, the darkness in front of her broke open with arush of light and a huge figure, wearing black clothes etched in silver stood there in the gap, towering above her.He smiled at her, and held out one hand, emanating power."There you are Hikari.I've been looking for you.Will you come with me for a moment?"

The raw power flowing through him overrode the senses she still had, burning what little reason was left to her in the dream plane out.In moments she was drowning in sheer terror."TK!" she screamed.

TK popped into existence right next to her, looking incredibly confused.His eyes widened as he took in the scene, and then he grabbed her hand, sensed her terror, and shot off into the darkness, away from the figure.

"Wait!" the figure cried, as they accelerated away.And then faintly: "Oh hell."

TK shot through the darkness, bouncing in random directions, giving enough jolts that Kari eventually shook herself out of her shock.After a bit they realized that they were not being chased, and TK slowed down, pausing in place.

"OK, what just happened?" he asked.

"I have no idea." She replied.

"Well…wait, something's happening."TK held up a hand as the mists around them began to lighten and then faded away.They were suddenly standing in an empty valley, coated with green grass and surrounded by high mountains.There was a rock a few meters away, on which sat an old man, watching them carefully.He grinned when they blinked in the bright sunlight.

"Well, well, well.Hikari Kamiya and Takeru Takaichi.Come right to my doorstep, have you?" the man stood up, dropping his tattered gray cloak, and swelling, expanding releasing tendrils of blackness, as if he was some oily primal ooze in human form twisting up to the sky.His hands came together, pointing menacingly at them, and then erupted in blobs of black goo.Kari and TK backed up suddenly, but then they froze, unable to move as his eyes focused on them hungrily, and then beyond them.His eyes widened for a moment, and he exclaimed: "Uh-oh…"

The man who had earlier broken the darkness to find them was leaning against a tree directly behind them, lounging with his hands in the pockets of his black overcoat.He was tall, taller than most of the people either TK or Kari had seen, and had long brown hair.He was grinning fiercely, that is, he was showing his teeth to them.

"I would like to introduce two friends of mine." He announced, taking one hand out his pocket and waving it to one side.Two bright silver lights appeared behind him, quickly coalescing into two bright, familiar, and above all large forms."This is Magnadramon and Seraphimon.They're going to say a few words to you about good manners.Four words to be exact."

_Holy Flame!_

_Seven Heavens!_

"Yes, I was right, four words exactly.Oh…that's going to hurt." The man waved a hand over his eyes, then looked up at the towering Megas."Go get him guys."

As they rushed off after the fleeing dark shape the man walked over to where TK and Kari were standing and put a hand on both of their shoulders. "Sorry about earlier." He remarked, projecting a sense of calm into them."I forgot that the dreaming releases some of what we are, and I've been told that I'm quite a sight when I'm Working." He pronounced the last word with a capital W, something TK had never heard before."And I've forgotten that my crest is primarily warlike in nature.It frightens people sometimes.I would like to apologize for it."

Kari stared at him for a moment, and then, he lifted his hand and flicked out his fingers and her memory returned.From the look on TK's face, his memories had also returned, blasting back through reality."You're the one!" TK exclaimed, "You're the one who saved Kari, one of the ones Izzy and Ken were talking about."

"Yes, I must admit, I occasionally underestimate Izzy.He really is extremely intelligent, and he was able to piece together a lot of the pieces of the puzzle.But he doesn't know all the story.Not yet.In time he will."

"What do we call you?" Kari asked.

"You can call me Andrel.I guess I'm here to give you some background."

Four columns of light appeared next to him, one a rainbow blur, one a brilliant purple, one a glowing white, and one a rich gold.Gradually they solidified into four people, the child and the tall woman from the operation appeared from the gold and white ones, the purple one contained the other man from that night, and the rainbow one resolved into Gennai, although only faintly.

Gennai turned immediately to Andrel."Is everything under control?" he asked.

"Yes.We have the area under control.Patomon and Gatomon are getting some exercise, and we can take it from here."

"Good.Fourth Wing is running up the final checks.Eleventh Wing reports contact, and we start transiting reinforcements from the Silbay garrison within the hour.I'll get back to you when I can, but I'll probably be busy for several days.Citadel One out."Gennai faded again.

"Poor guy." The unknown man commented."If he tries to coexist in multiple places any more often, he's gonna split permanently.I'm Cortell by the way, and I'm here to fill you in on anything sword-boy here forgets."

Andrel elbowed him.The tall woman squeezed both of their shoulders.She spoke with an odd, lilting accent."I am Amanda.I am pleased to be formally introduced to ones such as yourselves."

The kid spoke up too."I'm Michael.Pleased to meet'cha."

Everyone shook hands, before the four others found a place to sit.TK and Kari picked a nice rock to rest on, sunning themselves.Andrel looked at the others for a moment, and then spoke up.

"Well, I guess I get to start this off.You probably have a ton of questions.I'm probably going to answer none of them.You know how that goes.Especially since you've been around Gennai for a while."

TK and Kari nodded.Gennai's habit of omitting pieces of information had become annoying over the years, but was now viewed as an odd eccentricity.

"Believe it or not, he does that for a reason.But that's beside the point.I suppose I should start with the crests, they seem to be the focal point of this whole thing."He sat back.

"About fifteen years ago your time, there was a war.That was before you were born, but we think that the older kids got effected by that war in some way.At that point evil spilled into the interconnected worlds."

"Interconnected Worlds?" TK asked.

"Remember Myotismon's gate, the one you used to take you home?" TK nodded, and Kari, who had heard the story from Tai, nodded as well."Well, if you remember Gennai warned you that there were many worlds you could access.That's one of the properties of the Digital World as you call it.It is a parallel world with Earth, so what happens in one effects the other, but it also serves as a passage to many other worlds, all interconnected through space and time.Anyway, nobody made much of a deal about these connections before people started setting up digital connections in the real world.We're still not sure what triggered it, but there was a sudden shift in the balance, a sudden explosion of evil throughout all the worlds.

"As you know, humans are essential to the Digivolving process.Not just because they provide the necessary energy to complete the evolution process, but because there are certain fundamental properties of humans that Digimon need to proceed into the next phase.It is interaction with human thought and human will that allows the Digivolving process to occur.We believe that, not only are the worlds interconnected, but that in some way they now depend on each other for survival, are somehow interlinked.

"This may seem irrelevant, but it changed the course of the war for good.Up until a certain point, evil was strong enough that good simply got pummeled into near oblivion.Evil creatures that are beyond any of the ones you ever met wandered the land freely, carving it up into empires and kingdoms, filled with cruelty.The sky darkened every day, and most of the worlds' beauty was destroyed.

"At that point, everything just fell apart.The balance almost collapsed.So the worlds, acting on some sort of imperative that stretches our understanding even now, begin to try and stabilize themselves by incorporating the elements necessary to their survival.Humans.And so it just started grabbing any humans it could find that suited its purpose and dragging them across the worlds to wherever we were needed.

"Just like us!" TK exclaimed.

"Not quite, we didn't get it as easy." Andrel's eyes were bitter as he stared at the sky."Someone had to get it bad the first time in order to make things work."

"What things work?And what do you mean easy?" TK looked annoyed that one of the most important things in his life had been called easy.

"Your digivices for one.Even Izzy admits he has no idea how they work.I wonder if he appreciates how long it took us to build the stupid things.Or how long it took us to design the interior.Even your toned down versions are a pain to build.And you would not believe how much effort went into the crests.Those were the real pain, and it took years to iron out the bugs.And we didn't even manage to do that."

"If the war was only fifteen years ago, how could it take years…" Kari began.

"Fifteen years your time.Your first adventure, TK, took about a week in Earth time, but close to half a year in Digital Time.The great war was going much faster, it took a few days in Earth time, but over a hundred years in Digital time."

"A hundred years!"

"We learned how to survive.We adapted, and we changed.We sacrificed our lives and our youth for your tomorrow in a way, but that's neither here nor there.We need to talk to you about something."

"What?"

"Well…" Andrel sighed and sat back."I guess I should start with the crests."

"The crests."

"In the middle of the war we noticed that there was a great power that was assisting us.It is hard to explain this power, but consider it a force of good that transcends everything you've ever imagined, and has great power.Virtually unlimited power, that intelligent beings can draw upon.It comes in many forms, and everyone has all of them, but some people have more of one than others.For instance, the manifestation that we call courage, that which propels one into danger for the purposes of good, is possessed in overabundance by your brother Kari.And Matt forms friendships so deep and powerful that they are never shaken, another manifestation of that power.We developed many crests to assist people in using and manifesting that particular power in the service of good, allowing them access to the true might of what they used naturally.Seven of those symbols we used are currently worn by the Digidestined."

"Seven, but there are eight crests!" TK exclaimed."Nine if you count Ken."

Andrel raised one finger."I'm getting to that."

"Oh."

"Anyway, the crests had tremendous powers, the least of which was allowing the Digimon near these people to Digivolve twice, but there were unforeseen consequences.For you, you are bonded to your Digimon, so the power that goes into you spills over into them, automatically allowing them to Digivolve.But the original crests were different.They were designed to unleash the powers they represented into the wielders.The effects were near catastrophic.Each crest has tremendous powers, but it takes tremendous discipline to use those powers, and if you lose control even once, you have an incredible amount of destructive force unleashed on the world.Enough to destroy some countries.In fact, the power was so incredible it took years for the crestbearers to figure out how to live with them, and to this day we still have problems.

"In addition, the crests gave their bearers the power to Digivolve.In a way.You don't want to know what happened the first time we did that.It shocked me to be sure.The combination of all this gave many of us mental problems that no therapist could solve, as well as a much needed lesson in patience and controlling our anger.As you know, should that which the crest represents be lost, the whole thing falls apart, and bad things happen.Just to give you an idea, Jan, who you've seen briefly, has more power at his disposal than the nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, and that's without going to Avatar.You'll learn about Avatar mode later, but just accept that if you lose control of the true power of a crest, bad things happen.

"You mentioned that we have seven crests."

"Courage, Friendship, Sincerity, Love, Knowledge, Reliability and Kindness."

TK looked confused."But…"

Andrel raised a finger again, quieting TK."However, we discovered channels to almost undiluted power, channels that were a hundred times as dangerous as the crests.We managed to harness four to create the Seals.Actually, what we created were the greater crests, we'll get to the Seals in a moment."

Four symbols appeared in front of TK and Kari.Two were instantly recognizable, but the other two were odd.One was a circle, with triangular rays emerging from a point in the middle, extending to the interior of the circle glowing red.Another was what appeared to be a stylized sword and shield oriented downward, glowing a deep blue.All four symbols seemed to flicker in front of the eyes, as if they were trying to change shape.

"These are the four seals." Amanda smiled at them.Her chest glowed white in an image identical to the floating ones."Light, that which brings life to the worlds, and that which makes life worth living."

Michael stepped up, his chest glowing as well."Hope.That which drives all living things, the light inside that never dies.The force that grows as the evil that seeks to extinguish it increases."

Andrel touched the red one."Power, the crest that represents the force that dwells within the soul and is unleashed only in the gravest emergency.It was given to Gennai long ago."

His hand hovered over the blue one, and now his voice echoed like an avalanche in the mountains."Justice.That which is sworn to protect the weak, the innocent and the helpless.The sword of war constrained and bound to the light within."His chest exploded in blue flame for a moment, a color that somehow verged on incandescent white before dying down.

"If the crests were dangerous, the seals were catastrophic.They only reacted to certain things, and they involved powers so vast and incomprehensible that they were nearly our end.You see, the crests may be powerful, but the seals are incredible, a direct channel into the true power that is the Living Light.Even without using my full powers I destroyed an island chain the size of Japan by sinking it back into the sea.My power is so incredibly uncontrollable that I almost died the first time I used it."

"And we have that power?" Kari asked, her voice starting to tremble.

"In a way.You see, the seals were naturally unbalanced.They caused their users to go insane.To counter that, once we started drawing upon their power, we had to create what we call balancing crests.Once each greater crest was united with a balancing crest, a seal was created."

Andrel pointed and four more images appeared."The Crest of Power is the symbol of the strength within, but it is also dangerous when uncontrolled.The use of power, as you well know, can lead to disaster as easily as it can lead to triumph, and can destroy more than it preserves in an instant.To prevent it's misuse it is united with the symbol of the circle with the rays outward, that which is within considering that which is without.The Crest of Wisdom, that which gives Wisdom to counter Power."

Amanda spoke up, coming up and taking Andrel's hand in her own."Light is the Crest of one side of the balance, giving it tremendous power.But Light and Dark are two sides of the same coin, two ways of looking at the same picture.If one concentrates on Light alone, they forget the importance of the darkness.The symbol of Light traced in black is the Crest of Shadows, which reminds its bearer that it is not pure Light, but the struggle between Light and Darkness that produces true beauty and good."

Michael looked very serious as he came up to TK and Kari."Hope is the crest that can never be extinguished.But, if the bearer loses hope at all in anything, that part of them, and that part of the world, simply dies.It takes much to prevent a simple being from losing Hope.The Crest of Hope is the star rising to the Heavens.The star falling downward is the symbol of the stuff of miracles coming to Earth, and represents the dreams of those who Hope.And it is those dreams that empower the Crest.

There was a pause.Then Kari spoke up."What about Justice?"

Andrel's voice rang out like a steel bar dropped in a quiet library.It was as cold as the winds that whipped across glaciers, and sharp as razor blades and as hard as the men who lived on the barren coasts of the north."The Crest of Justice is known as the Crest of War, for it is the creed of Justice to defend against any tyrant, no matter how powerful, or how many followers they may have assembled.Justice deals with the march of armies as often as the trials of courts.Justice must enjoin in war, and activity we abhor, to preserve the greater good, thus the paradox of good.The broken sword is the Crest of Mercy, that which serves to balance the native savageness of the sword of Justice.It is that which prevents Justice from turning to tyranny."

His voice trailed off, and his eyes looked somewhere else.The symbols disappeared.

"So we need those balancing crests?" Kari asked, trying to avoid what she saw in Andrel's eyes.

"No, you don't." Cortell spoke up for the first time, smiling genially, looking just like Izzy for a moment."When Gennai and Andrel came up with the Digidestined test plan he asked us to make crests for the original children.When that worked, we were able to update our model.What we created were imitation or copied crests, items that drew their power from the original crest, shielding their wearer from the flow of power and madness that came from them.Andrel and Gennai decided that crests would not be enough, so we created the seals of light and hope and moved them into crest form.Those symbols that you wore were powered off of Amanda and Michael's symbols remotely, so you were shielded from most of the madness.In addition, Andrel managed to create some aspects of the seal's balance inside of you."

"So why are you telling us this?" Kari asked.

Andrel sighed."Because Izzy is right.You will be needed once more.And soon.You've already done all that we could have expected of you and more, but we have nobody else to turn to, except for you.The war is on the verge of flaming up again, and you are terribly vulnerable.Even though you have only a fraction of the true power of the seals, your connection with the powers of Light makes you a tempting target for the forces of darkness.And the strain of drawing subconsciously on your crest for so long is beginning to wear down on your natural stamina."

"I thought we gave up the crests." TK reminded them.

"In essence you did.The easy connection to the power was lost when the essence of the crests was removed, but this essence is carried in every person.The presence and integration of the crests into your minds opened channels for the power.Big channels.In reality you can still draw on powers beyond anything you've ever done, but it will require concentration and discipline.It will also require us to manipulate your minds a little so that you are more fully shielded against the effects of your own power.And it will require you to remember or relearn what your crests truly mean."

"How much work will it take to do this?" TK asked.

"Actually, we just did most of it.That's what we were doing while you were talking." Cortell grinned at them.

"I didn't feel anything." Kari told them. 

"You weren't supposed to.But you may be a little less irritable now." Cortell nodded graciously at her. 

"She's not irritable!" TK objected.

Cortell just grinned even wider.

"And…" Andrel sighed."You won't remember any of this unless we visit you again."

"Huh!How come?" TK demanded, eyes flashing.

"Because, you're not quite ready.You have things to learn first." Andrel looked quietly at their glances of incomprehension and sighed."Look at it like this.In your fight with Apoclymon, you finally understood some of the nature of the crests, right?Now, we could have told you that the crests were powered by those special qualities within you and the faith you had in each other when you first got them, but what point would that have served?You would have thought you knew all the answers, and not bothered to get the real answers from your experiences.Without being able to learn for yourself what these things truly mean, you will be simply unable to use them properly.You need to learn from experience."

"I guess so." TK sighed.

"I know so.And in time, so will you."And then the background vanished and the two tumbled back into the realms of reality.

Another Note:Once more sorry about the length.And if you think that I was Davis bashing, I would have to disagree.I think that this is how he would naturally behave.I'll spend more time talking about the Digidestined soon….I promise.Really.Just bear with me.

Sorry about how long it is.I write long.


	3. Calm Before the Storm

Disclaimer-I still don't own Digimon or any of its associated articles

Disclaimer-I still don't own Digimon or any of its associated articles.And if you are dumb enough to try and sell this for money, well, you're a lot dumber than I thought.

Author's Note:I know, it's long, and seems to go nowhere.Well, the kids will come back more when I continue this for real.Really, I promise.

"We have got to stop meeting like this." Andrel smiled as Amanda sat down next to him at a sidewalk café, looking at the cup of coffee that he had pre-ordered for her.His usual hot chocolate was already half drunk.

"How are things going?"

Amanda just looked up.Above them, visible in the crack of sky in the narrow streets, two mountains of flying metal and rock flew overhead, each half a kilometer long, floating like boats, except without water.From them a variety of gun emplacements and power jacks hung in a disorderly fashion, but each device was well placed to further the passage of the floating fortresses.

"That's the last two battleships.We start transiting the dreadnoughts any moment now."

"Well, at least that gives us two full squadrons of Fifth Wing within striking distance of the frontier.I hear that the Silverbolts were giving you some problems."

"Yeah.We had to stuff them into _Leonidas_ instead of _Falkenberg_.At least we got them moving somewhere." Amanda took a deep gulp of coffee before smiling over at Andrel.

"Going back to Earth?" she asked.

"Yeah, and Jan's coming with me.But the rest of you look like you're needed here.Good luck trying to straighten everything out."

"I hate you." She growled into her coffee.

Andrel leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, grinned at her, and then faded into light.

Kari blinked and woke up.There were some memories from her dream still blowing around in her head, but other than that.She shook herself and blinked her eyes, scratching the head of Gatomon, who was curled up next to her in her bed.Gatomon blinked, looked at her sleepily, and then turned over and started snoring again.Kari smiled at her, and looked around.She was lying in the top bunk of her bed, in her usual place.The others were still there, Sora was sleeping in a sleeping bag by Tai's desk with Biyomon, Mimi was asleep in the bed beneath her with Palmon, and Yolei and Hawkmon had taken the other side of the floor.She looked over at the clock and checked the time.Seven thirty!And a Sunday no less!No wonder nobody else was up.

Quietly she got dressed and padded to the door, sneaking out and heading to the bathroom.As she approached it the door opened, and someone came out, leaning over and looking at the ground.Kari found herself looking into two round, impossible blue eyes and a brownish-orange nose.

"Good morning Kari!" Patamon greeted her cheerfully from her position on top of TK's head.

Beneath him TK groaned."How can some people be so cheery so early in the morning?" he grumbled.

Patamon just grinned innocently.Kari grinned back, being used to rising earlier than her brother.

"Excuse me." she said giggling, slipping around them and heading into the bathroom.

When she got out TK was still there, looking more awake, and Patamon was looking around curiously.

"What are you doing up this early TK?" Kari asked.

"I couldn't sleep.I had one of those odd dreams."

Kari stopped dead."I did too.Was it like the thing we were talking about with Izzy last night?"

TK stopped as well."Yes.Should we talk to him about it?"

"Well, we could wait until he gets up."

"He's already up, him, Ken and Joe all together.They're out on the balcony.I guess those genius types are used to getting up with the sun and stealing a march on the rest of us." TK grinned, his school problems would decrease dramatically if he was able to wake himself up earlier.

Kari grinned back, and they walked through the living room, stepping over the still-sleeping bodies of the rest of the boys as they made their way over to the balcony.Out in the chill of the morning, and the growing dawn Joe was sitting, sipping a cup of coffee while reading a text and offering advice to Izzy and Ken, both of whom were engaged in what appeared to be an unnecessarily complicated game of chess.Kari looked at the board for a moment and then looked up puzzled."Is it just me, or is white winning?"

Ken nodded absently."Yes, and white does eventually win.We're re-enacting the championship game from last years Japanese championships.And trying to figure out how to beat both the players."

TK grinned at his seriousness."Oh boy, such ambition.Does the boy know no bounds?"

Ken swatted at his arm playfully.TK just grinned wider.

"Oh, Kari, a package arrived for you this morning.The guy who left it was off in a hurry.Your Dad left it on the table here." Izzy picked up a package wrapped in brown wrapping paper and let her have it.

"That's funny, no return address." Kari jerked on the brown packing tape and ripped off the cover.Inside was a plain cardboard box, which she quickly opened, revealing what looked like a flat computer monitor with a clear plastic cover and a few buttons.One the cover was a note, written in fine pen: To Kari, share this with TK, Joe, Izzy and Ken.There was no signature.Kari looked up suspiciously.

"All right you guys, are you up to something?"

A few minutes of protestations on the part of the guys convinced her that they were not, but she was still puzzled.She flipped open the plastic cover and examined the screen.All the buttons were unlabeled except for a single switch labeled ON/OFF.She thumbed it, shrugging while Ken and Izzy looked over her shoulder.The screen flashed once, and then settled down to a detailed image of black lines on a clear background.Off to one side there was a menu of options, including SCAN, OPTIONS, PARAMETERS, DATABASE, LOG, COMM, DISPLAY and a list of controls that looked like they belonged on a TV remote.The image quickly resolved itself into a map of the Kamiya apartment, and a few pieces of the nearby compartment.Kari blinked in amazement.

"I think it's one of those Global Positioning Systems.You know, those devices that tell you where you always are..." Ken paused."But it doesn't look like anyone that I've ever seen before."

"Can I see?" asked Izzy.Kari handed it over wordlessly and he set it down on the table with everyone crowding over his shoulders.Even Patamon looked interested.Izzy studied the controls for a moment and then reached out and hit a spot on the screen labeled Z +/-.As soon as he touched the - sign the image shrunk and more images came in on the side."Prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed with great pleasure."A zoom function.And a very detailed map system.I haven't seen one of these before."Everyone smiled at his enthusiasm.

He kept zooming out until he had a street map of the entire city, labeling landmarks, streets and other items clearly, and then going farther.Kari was still puzzling over who would give this to her, and TK was enjoying the quality of the map.For a moment, Izzy looked at the other controls, and then hit the SCAN button.

The map blinked and a new menu replaced the old one.Izzy blinked and then pushed the screen again on an area marked LIMITED SCAN.He whistled, "This touch screen is very sophisticated, and it works wonderfully.I wish I had one of these Kari."

"Three flight, this is Base.We have scan from associated area.Prepare to initiate Arrowroot.Prepare to initiate Arrowroot." the silent transmission sped over space to a point a few kilometers out in the middle of Tokyo bay, to a clear point of sky amid the golden clouds of dawn.From that empty space came a reply:

"Roger base, this is three flight.Dropping screens now."

And then the space was not empty anymore.

On the screen in front of Izzy several dots appeared around the apartment area.But more importantly a set of dots appeared at the edge of the map, over Tokyo bay.

"What are those?" Kari asked pointing.Everyone else looked on curiously.

Izzy shrugged and pressed a finger down on the dots, the computer screen changed.

Multiple Contact-Enhancing Scan Parameters

Identity Confirmed

Three MegaKabuterimon-Enhanced Energy Signatures

Two Garudamon-Enhanced Energy Signatures

Associated other smaller contacts-Unable to resolve

Velocity: 150kmh, NNW

Will leave sensor range in thirty two minutes

Identification: Positive

Markings, Hammerhead squadron, _Wellington_, Fifth Wing

Analysis: Standard Patrol

Threat Level: Low

Further Data

Everyone stared at the screen for a moment.Kari was wide eyed, TK slack jawed, Ken looked like he was about to fall over, Joe was about to spill his coffee, and Izzy just stood still and stared.After a moment his hand, almost of its own volition moved over quietly and hit the square marked Further Data.Immediately other images popped up on the screen, pictures of a MegaKabuterimon and a Garudamon with accompanying data about strength and power levels and abilities.Notes were included on the formation, windspeed, environmental conditions and other pieces of data, but none of them truly noticed.All of them were coming to grips with the idea of such powerful Digimon in the real world.After all, there were only a handful of Digimon in the digital world that had been at that high level, and none of them had come over to the real world.Either the computer was lying or something had changed, but in either way, what in the world was going on?

"Three flight, resume patrol operations."

There was a flash, and then space was empty again as a group of invisible fliers suddenly turned and jetted in a different direction.

As they all stared at the computer, it blinked again and the dots disappeared.A new notice appeared:

Warning: Contacts have engaged stealth fields.Unable to track further.

Attempt to regain contact failed.

Then the image settled down, leaving only a few dots in the center of the image.Izzy recovered from his shock and quickly zoomed in on them, as they were displaced throughout the apartment.He quickly ran through them and found all their Digimon.After a moment he sat back and blinked up at them.

"It appears to be a Digimon detector.And an incredibly detailed one at that.I can't image the type of technology it would take to create this.In fact I have no idea how it is done.The standard electromagnetic spectrum scanners would be unable to provide such resolution and…" he let his voice drain off.Then Izzy looked up."But I have no idea what it is for, or why those five Ultimates were prowling around the city, and what stealth fields really mean."

He paused for a moment and then hit the END button, and hit the OPTIONS button.A new menu appeared.Izzy read those buttons quickly and hit the INFO button.A message appeared:

Kari (and TK, Joe, Izzy and Ken if I'm not mistaken)

Greetings.I know this is a little confusing, but we think you might need the services of this device soon.That is Gennai thinks that you will need it, and none of us are stupid enough to contradict him.Anyway, we've been modifying this like crazy to give it to you, so here we go.This is a Citadel standard issue Field Scanner and Information Networking Device, known as a Scanner to those who have to use it in the field.It detects Digimon at different distances depending upon their power levels and their proximity.In addition it can trace the positions of your Digivices and any other Digi-accessory (since that is what you call them).It can interface as a communication device with the Mark IIs (you call them the D3s).It also serves as a standard computer, allowing you to type, program or do anything else you need.It takes a lot to break and never runs out of power.Read the instructions (if you can) if you need anything else.Good luck!

There was no signature.Everyone stared for a moment at the screen, and then Izzy hit another button, dissolving the message and returning to the scan mode.He looked up at Patamon, who was also wide eyed (like always) and peering down curiously.

"Patamon, fly off and see if there's a limit on this thing." Izzy pointed out to the horizon and Patamon obediently shuffled off and began flying.

As Izzy watched Patamon's golden dot fly off, he turned to the others."I can't help but think that this is meant particularly for us, given what we discussed last night.Which means that somebody is watching us very closely."

"I think we had another dream last night." TK and Kari quickly exchanged glances."But it was even more unclear."

"It supports the hypothesis.But I wonder, should we tell the others?"

Everyone looked puzzled, and then Kari spoke up."We should warn them, but something tells me that we can't let them know directly what is going on."

Patamon's blip on the screen disappeared and Izzy blinked."Well, for a rookie, it seems to have a range of about two blocks.I hope that's enough."

"You better keep it Izzy.I hope you can find out more about it."

Izzy shook his head, handing it back to Kari."I can't keep it.It was sent to you, so it's yours.Given our experiences with the Digiworld, when things go wrong, they go wrong fast.You may need it on you."

"I hate Miracles." Jan grumbled as he fiddled with something invisible next to his breakfast plate.He looked up at Andrel with a pointed look that reminded Andrel that he was speaking of the crest and egg instead of the actual events.

"What's wrong?"

"You know how we had to mess with Fate in order to get the Digidestined back into action."

"Yeah, don't tell me, we had a spillover into the miracles section and the whole thing went into a tangle."

"Don't remind me.Cortell is probably spitting bullets."

Andrel rolled his eyes.The debate between himself and Cortell had been ongoing practically forever, and showed no signs of being over anytime soon.Everyone else just snickered up their sleeves at them whenever they fought.

"Doesn't matter.He'll fix it.Anyway, school starts in a few minutes, and I should get going to teach that class." Andrel sighed and headed for the door.

"Andrel, you always do this?"

"It's my first time teaching at this level."

"You'll do fine." Jan's voice was level and so was his gaze.

"Thanks teacher." Jan just smiled at that and went back to fiddling with Fate and Destiny.

Kari brushed some dirt off of her gym clothes and looked over at TK and Ken."So what's up with PE, why are we changing around?"

TK shrugged and Ken just looked puzzled.A row down Davis was as boisterous as ever and Yolei was arguing with another girl in the back row about something.All the students were standing around talking to each other on the floor of the gym.There was a moment of consternation, and then the gym coach came up from behind them.

"All right people.Due to some recent incidents," his gaze flickered to Kari, "the administration has suggested that we do a self-defense course in this class." He did not sound very pleased by the notion."To teach it, we have Mr. Dantel.Mr. Dantel?"

A tall, well-built man with long brown hair and a plain face walked up to the front of the class, wearing a plain white two piece garment, loose and flowing without getting in the way.He got to the front of the class and took a look at the students, his expression grim, before smiling at them, looking carefully into the eyes of every person there.

"Good morning students." He spoke with an odd accent, yet a familiar one, similar to how Mimi now spoke Japanese."I have been asked to be your self-defense instructor for the next few classes.I've checked through records to separate which ones of you have martial arts training and have formed you into a separate class under the instruction of my associate, Mr. Gidel."Another man, even taller, but with short cropped black hair and darker skin nodded amiably. He held up a piece of paper and called off a handful of names, and those students obediently went to stand with him.After a moment, he started to run off with them at a jog, heading outside.

TK, Kari, Yolei, Davis and, surprisingly, Ken were left behind.Mr. Dantrel took a quick look at his list and then walked past the line of students, stopping in front of Ken.

"Mr. Ichijouji?"

Ken started for a moment, but otherwise remained perfectly calm."Yes sensei?"

"The recommendations I have from the last Judo tournament are impressive.The recommendations from your teachers at school even more so.As such, I was going to see if you would be willing to help teach the new students." Something passed between the two.

"Of course I would." Ken looked like he was being subtly attacked and was defending his territory, but his voice remained unruffled and calm.

"Have you streched out yet?" Mr. Dantrel was perfectly emotionless.

Ken nodded silently without losing eye contact.Even his posture was a challenge.

Dantrel smiled in response, but it was almost humorless."I've watched your career with interest, and I did wonder how you were doing."

Ken returned the grin, that is, he pulled the corners of his mouth up without altering his face.

Dantrel waved to the rest of the class."All the rest of you, strech out.Make sure that you're nice and limber, you'll need it later."And then, turning to Ken, he gestured to a wide blue mat in the middle of the floor, typical of most gym mats.

TK shrugged and launched into the routine he used to strech for Basketball, while Kari and Yolei went into their dance streches.Davis tried to touch his toes.All around them, kids started to strech as well, muttering to each other.TK caught Kari's eyes and shrugged minutely.Kari raised an eyebrow, but continued streching.

In the middle of the mat Ken and Dantrel has stopped, pausing, looking at each other.Both of them were standing, relaxed, calm, at ease, but somehow so tense that they gave the impression of a spring coiled to the breaking point.Between them, the air seemed to crackle with electricity, like lightning, blasting off each other, each person an island of calm in the middle of a tormented sea.

Slowly, carefully, the muttering, gossiping and whispering in various parts of the room slowly died down as people caught on to the incredible tension between them, so thick that you could have used it to cut bread.

"Come on," Davis whispered, as they continued to stare at each other, "do something already!"Now everyone was staring.

And then, suddenly, they were both moving.It would have been impossible to determine who moved first, because, as soon as one moved, the other moved to follow, almost like a mirror image.They rushed toward each other with abandon, and then the space between them dissolved into a whirling flurry of hands and feet as the two crashed together, striking, rebounding, hammering and dodging.For a handful of seconds they stood, bobbing, ducking and weaving around a common center, and then Ken fell, hitting the mat with a loud smack, while Dantrel jumped back almost three meters.

"Ken!" Davis yelled.Yolei gasped.

Ken's back suddenly bent like the water in a wave and, rolling first forward and than backwards, he shot up into the position he originally started in.Other than a slight increase in his breathing he looked completely the same.For a moment everyone in the room struggled with the feeling that they had imagined the storm that had just passed, that nothing had happened.

Dantrel grinned ferally at Ken."I thought you were a Judo person."

Ken shrugged, but he bared his teeth."I've learned a few tricks."

Suddenly, they were moving again, rushing at each other like mighty rivers, trying to wash away everything between them, with a kind of grim unstopability and wild pleasure mirrored in their features.There was another crash in the center, and they suddenly flowed like water, twisting in around, out and down, each trying to grab the other, each shifting away in turn.For a handful of seconds they stood in that position, each circling the other at tremendous speed.Then suddenly Ken twisted around, grabbed Dantrel's tunic for a quick throw, and then gasped as the man dropped his weight, shifting one hip over and catching Ken momentarily off balance.There was a moment while everyone realized that something was going on, and a sudden look of surprise appeared on Ken's face, and then he was down, flipped on his back and Dantrel's hand whipped out like a freight train.A moment of screaming tension ended abruptly when the hand halted a mere handful of centimeters away from Ken's throat.

"So," Dantrel asked "I think I get to claim victory.But you're getting better Ken, a lot better.Watch what you do with that front leg though, you're still trying to muscle through."

Ken nodded and bowed low.Then he extended his hand, "Glad to see you approve Mr. Dantrel." "Good to see you learning Mr. Ichijouji."

For a moment they stood locked, and then Dantrel clapped Ken on the back and gestured over to where the rest of the students were now watching open-mouthed."All right you lot, I hope that you're nice and warmed up, because you're going to need it."

Everbody winced back.

"As a top student, Ken here gets to be the dummy I practice these things on, right Ken?"Ken rolled his eyes."I want you to watch carefully what we're doing, and then you're going to do the same thing in partners, all right?"

There was a chorus of assents from the audience.

"All right, let's get going."

The next hour was a grueling series of drills, as Mr. Dantrel demonstrated a series of basic evasions and counters to common holds.Everyone moved through them as they worked it out with partners.TK ended up working with Ken, who taught him a lot of things that he had never known the black-haired genius to have known.At the end he was bruised, battered and strangely refreshed.

Jan watched the whole thing from affar, through the gym windows from a nearby building, sitting next to an Agumon and a Floramon who had decided to accompany him.

"So, if you taught him everything he knows, why aren't you down there teaching the kids?" the Agumon wanted to know.

Jan sighed and smiled at the same time."Two reasons, I taught him everything I know, which is not everything he knows.He picks up tricks every time he leaves Citadel.I wouldn't be surprised if he is vastly superior to me by now.Two, I teach the matrial arts as just that, martial arts.If I was down there I would be teaching them the basis for moves that they would never have to do.I still think like I was trained, that the martial arts are a weapon, and as such you need to master every nuance of the art in order to use it correctly."

"Isn't the martial arts a weapon."

"For some people, something Andrel insists cripples people."

"He thinks it isn't a weapon."

"For him martial arts is merely a useful tool that he uses to accomplish his goals.I suspect that it seems to him to be a special tool, but nonetheless it is just a tool, something to be learned._He _is the weapon.Everything else just helps him demolish his target." Jan's brow creased.Andrel was indeed the most dangerous man he kenw.

He watched them go through their exercises, and then watched as the students were dismissed to their next class, after cleaning up.Andrel met his eyes for a moment, and then breezed on, preparing for a second, less vital class as more students began to come in.

"Come on." Jan gestured tiredly."Let's keep those hooligans out of trouble."

TK and Kari rushed into the room with the other Digidestined, only to see them all gathered there, waiting for the last two arrivals.They smiled at each other, and began the walk home.

"…and if I had another company or so I could do a world of good."

"Ordinance, can we handle that?" Gennai leaned back in his cushioned chair and watched the world spin for a moment before the answer came.

A shining Andromon sat back in his chair, eyes searching the ceiling as if looking for answers.After a moment, he spoke."I can give you fifteen units of fire for your ground units, as well as transport to and from operational zones.We can scrape up five units or so for the artillery, but I only have four for the anti-air.Will that be enough?"

Two people, on a tall, black skinned human, the other a short Wizardmon shook their heads."It's way too risky." The human objected."We could get sliced up out there.I don't think we could pull that off."

"Wait a moment.We go in with Gallipoli Two, right?" Andrel sat up from where he had been staring at a map.

"Currently that's the idea." Gennai looked over, his long hair flashing.When Andrel talked like that he usually had an idea.

"Well, I'll be doing long range sniping with my carrier units.I'll need all the flights I can get, but some of those novices aren't used to Digivolving yet.They simply don't have the range for what I need them to do.I was going to hold them over for air defense, but I can lend them to Pharsalus for air cover and ground support.I can cover my carriers with the battle line if I need to, and that will offset our shortages in artillery and air support."

"Right." Gennai exchanged a look with the powerful Leomon sitting next to him."I say that StratCom and TacCom both tentatively approve Operation Pharsalus with respect to the changes that were made here."

"Agreed." Leomon rumbled deep in his chest."Now, if we could get an update on the Sentinel program."

Gennai and Andrel stood up, crossing over to the front of the room, replacing the two presenters who had been standing in front of a holographic display.As they moved the display changed, now showing twenty four different faces.

"The Digidestined pose an interesting dilemma." Andrel pointed at the screen."Our entire purpose in their creation was to sow the seeds of a program that would allow worlds to protect themselves from the Darkness.As such, if we interfere, we wreck the program and in some way make them dependent on us.At the same time, given the powers we have invested in them, they have become prime targets for the Darkness.Specifically I am referring to the kind of mental attacks that destroy self-confidence."

Gennai took over smoothly."We believe that agents of Darkness have managed to attack their internal confidence, and the faith they have in each other.Although they are significantly above the level they were at when they entered the Digital World for the first time, they are not yet ready to confront evil of the magnitude that they will soon be required to face.We have temporarily rebalanced the two miniature seals that we have invested Takeru and Hikari with, but they will have to see to the rest themselves.Our Paradox now works against us.We cannot interfere and save them without reducing their self-confidence and their independence.At the same time, leaving them to fend for themselves seems a poor second option."

"What can we expect to happen to them?" Vona was sitting close to that end of the table, and, having been out in the field, she was out of the loop on this particular project.

"We anticipate an assassination attempt on D-Day, probably on H-Hour itself." Andrel paused."I have taken steps to prevent this, but I believe that the Dark will respond by hurling some of them into the void.Our current plan is to take the ones thrown into the void to another world, Parsifal to be specific.We have contingency plans for this, and it will allow us to give the Digidestined time to prepare for the confrontations ahead."

"Any specific contingencies that we should be aware of?" Leomon asked.

"Perhaps."Andrel and Gennai exchanged significant glances."We cannot offer overt aide without taking effort from critical battlegrounds, something we dare not do considering how many worlds are at stake.However, there are possibilities.At the moment though, they remain the sole concern of TacCom, StratCom and SpecOps."

"Understandable."Leomon rumbled."I suppose it is necessary to give those children the chance to prove themselves.And I no we cannot afford to offer them full military support.I just wanted to know, what kind of chances are we giving them?"

"I don't know.Whatever they do is up to them."Andrel's voice was quiet.

"I suppose we have to give our approval.Consider it done.Now, we need a full shakedown report on Fourth Wing's Order of Battle."

The voices continued for many long hours.

Tai balanced a pencil on its tip, trying to concentrate on his math homework through the glow of the light on his desk.He pushed his chair back a few times and then, his tenuous focus broken, he stood up and walked around.After looking at the posters adorning the walls and the photographs on the table in front of him he sighed and stretched, turning at a thought.Carefully, with a rare display of the precision he usually never exhibited in daily life, he crossed the room on tiptoes, creeping silently.Then, with one gentle hand, unlike anything he did during the day, he ran one gentle finger over his sister's smooth cheek as she slept, and a smile creased his face.

Cody rolled uncomfortably in his sleep, beset by odd dreams of his father with him in the Digital World.But the beauty of the Digital World dissolved in ugliness and war, and his father changed to Oikawa, who was trying frantically to tell him something...but Cody could not hear the words...

Mimi finished talking on the phone, the usual activity that dominated her life leaving her feeling somehow unfulfilled.For a moment she thought back to when life was simpler, if much more difficult, back in the Digital World, and instead of horrifying her, the memory strangely comforted her.She went to sleep dreaming of a world under a fair sun and drowning in incandescent glory.

Davis, worn out from a long day of activity, soccer, basketball, running, and other things, watched the ceiling of his dark room as his eyes slowly dropped toward sleep.His thoughts remained on his day, on how lucky he was to have friends and companions and adventures, and on what tomorrow would bring.

Joe, realizing that he had an early morning class, and that he was tired and ready for some sleep collapsed onto his bed with agrateful sigh.He took a glance out his window where he could see the tide lapping the shore, and absently wished that his life could be important once more.As he drifted off into slumber he thought he could feel a strong, familiar grip holding his hand.

Yolei rolled over on her bed, feeling wistful.She did not really mind Hawkmon going back to the Digital World, but sometimes she missed his company and his confidence.As she prepared to sleep she looked over to where a single solitary picture graced her nightstand.It was one of Kari's, a picture taken by a boy she did not even know of the twelve Digidestined and their Digimon as the light from Oikawa's sacrifice brightened the skies.They looked tired, grubby, careworn and absolutely wonderful.She sighed carefully and fell asleep dreaming of friends, victory and peace.

Sora absently stroked the petals of a flower as she prepared to go to sleep.She was taking her last reading assignment carefully, reading the papers in front of her carefully and fully before giving up for the night.Every time she touched the papers, memories of happier times seemed to flow out, distracting her.In the end she smiled ruefully, falling asleep in her bed with the light still on, floating in a dream where good and evil fought each other to a standstill in the darkness.

Matt waited for sleep with a patient air.He was thinking of a song, something more musical than the sound of wind rushing through the trees on a summer day, a sound that he and Gabumon had listened to long ago in another world.As the words tried to form in his head, he fell into a deep slumber, and a dream where a man took a song and used it to change the world.

Izzy waited by his computer.He had been upgrading his computer, trying to build programs that would tell him if trouble was brewing, but he had so far not achieved anything.For the hundredth time he wished that Tentomon was here with him, but the Digital World needed protectors too.And he still could not shake the feeling that evil was once again at work.As night fell further on, his thoughts were filled with foreboding.

Ken lay sleepless, listening to the steady rumble or traffic and the dulled roar of city life as it ground onward.He was tired, but unable to sleep, mind resonating with implications he wished to avoid. Something out there was calling, calling to him, to that dark part that he had thought buried long ago.He set his teeth and braced himself, feeling in himself the strength that flowed from his friends and their kindness, and felt the tension lessen briefly.Yet still he could feel Darkness, calling, marching, as clouds hit the stars from view.

And last of all, TK lay on his bed deep in thought.He could feel the peaceable calm that had settled around himself, his friends and the world.And in his mind, faintly so that he could only hear as he was on the verge of dreaming, he could hear a voice say _The Calm Before the Storm_.And he braced to meet the hurricane.

"Andrel?"

"Yes dear?"

"How was class?"

"Fine."

"How long do we have?"

"Days maybe."

"Will it be enough."

"It better be…" a whisper, "It better be."

Author's Note:For the purpose of actuallys separating things out, I'll continue this under another title, which will make it easier to keep everything separate.If you're actually still reading this, I congratulate you on your stamina.And if you're actually intrigued enough to read the next part, I'm flattered.I think I'll call it _The Hammer Falls_.


End file.
